Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Chapter 11 - Quidditch

November rolls around and the weather becomes bitterly cold. The Quidditch season has also begun, with Harry Potter as the secret weapon for Gryffindor. Hermione is a huge help to Harry with his studies and his practice. He learns more about the sport from a library book, which he hopes to keep:

"Harry learnt that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara desert."Chapter 11, pg. 132

Meanwhile, Hermione becomes more relaxed about breaking rules and hanging out with her new friends. She creates a small fire in a jar that she carries around with her and uses to keep warm with Ron and Harry. They spy Snape from afar, who seems to be limping. He limps over to speak with them, inquiring about their possessions. Harry remarks that he is simply carrying a book. Snape docks Gryffindor five points for taking a book out of the school when it is not allowed. Harry decides to ask Snape for his book back, so he finds him speaking with Filch. Snape's robes are lifted over his legs and his feet are mangled and bloody. When he sees Harry, he screams at him to leave. Harry informs his friend of Snape's torn legs and that he had probably tried to get past the three legged dog and to the package in hiding.

The first big Quidditch game of the season arrives and all of Harry's friends cheer him on with signs that say "Potter for President" and the like. Harry is terrified and excited at the same time as he listens to Woods pre-game motivational speech. When the game begins, its goes well. However, halfway through, Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand seems to fly out of control, vibrating, flying higher and higher, throwing Harry off, terrifying the crowd. The team tries to reach him or at least catch him, but the broom doesn't allow it. Hermione, Hagrid, and Ron are all in the crowd fearing for their friend's life, when Hermione spots Snape across the stands. She realizes that he is casting a magic spell on Harry's broom and must be stopped. She makes her way to the other side of the stand and sets Snape's robes on fire, quelling the spell on the broom. Harry returns to land safely and joins his two friends in Hagrid's hut for tea and conversation. Hagrid informs his little wizards that Snape couldn't possibly know what is in hiding and he could never harm a Hogwart student. Unfortunately, Hagrid slips out some information regarding the precious package in hiding. It concerns only Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. Hermione, Ron, and Harry take this information and use it to decipher the next portion of their tale.